I Dreamt of an Angel, in the Form of the Devil
by Mangalover4321
Summary: Once Vergil and Dante returned from the Underworld, Nero demands answers about his mother and Vergil after a long discussion with the young man decides to allow him answers. Although once arriving to Fortuna, a woman cries upon the sight of the two and delivers the answers Nero has been desperately seeking while also giving more questions about himself and his mother.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: This story is already posted on AO3, completed, if you wanted to go ahead and read ahead. Also, this is part of the series called, "Wiping Away the Tears" so that may be referenced in here and following stories too. Anyways, enjoy! **

* * *

"And I wept both night and day,  
And he wiped my tears away;  
And I wept both day and night,  
And hid from him my heart's delight."  
-_The Angel (Songs of Experience)_, Stanza 2, William Blake

* * *

She awoke once she felt _his_ presence in Fortuna. Her brilliant gray eyes shot open in disbelief and her days of awaiting her strength to return and for _him_ to be in Fortuna again had arrived. Her chest was still heavy and her onyx hair with slight tints of gray weaved through it was so long and in a mess from resting that it ran far past to her hips. She glanced around and pulled herself up in her bed, hands white from gripping the sheets so tight.

She had to go greet _him_ again.

She had to demand why he had left her.

She struggled to move her body after so long of dreaming and seeing and her legs were numb, nothingness seemed to be in them but she had to go.

_She must go!  
_  
She dropped to the ground in a thud and willed her arms to pull the force of her body to the door which would led her downstairs to where she would go and find him. She groaned but ignored all the pain that she had missed for so long to greet her again. Though tears clouded her eyes, she would not be stopped to go. It had felt like decades since she had moved her body and she managed to reach the doorknob, forced it open.

She looked down the red velvet staircase with the curved handrails in hope that she could meet the bottom without any injuries. She took a deep breath and gripped the edge of stairs as she descended down. She was going to make it even if it pulled her to nothing.

Her body weighed far lighter than what she had remembered and she stopped for a second before pushing herself up, her legs wobbling at her own weight and pushed herself further down. The portraits that hung up on the walls looked her in both disapproval and disbelief as she could fell the carpet between her bare feet. It took some time to reach the bottom of the stairs and she looked to the coat hook, knowing that the cold might be near the dreaded island she lived on. She grabbed the only coat that remained on it and shoved her arms through it, tying it around her waist.

The door then stood before her and she stared at the large wooden frame, carved with detailed flowers and patterns. The golden handle was the thread that would led her out and she grabbed it, pulling at it with all her strength. The light blinded her momentarily at seeing the outside world in so long and she stared at it with doe like eyes.

Many people were bustling about and staring at her from her odd appearance. She looked in every direction, trying to find him, and the landscape changed since she had last been outside. The buildings were far less taller and the architecture shifted to a Renaissance like style instead of the favorable Beaux-Arts style she grew to like on the island. The people were still wearing the similar gowns and fashion style of long white and red dresses and suits. Their eyes were wide and she did not care as her bare feet padded against the graveled stone, pulling the coat tighter around her.

She could feel _him_ nearby and her eyes were starting to gain tears at the mere thought of seeing _him_ again. Her breath was hitched and her lungs felt like they were on fire, shooting pass people while her hair was getting in her way of seeing where she was going.

Then like a beam of light, she saw _him_.

But _he_ was with someone else too, much like a similar fashion.

And she knew in her heart who it was too.

The two stared at her and she brought a hand to her mouth at the sight, tears flying down her face.

"Are you alright, Miss?"

Her eyes softened and then reached a hand up to _his_ cheek, her eyes looked like they were gone from the present but placed in the past.

"You are as handsome as I remember." She whispered but stopped mere centimeters away from _his_ face and looked over to the younger man, "And I am sorry for not being there for you."

"Huh, wait, who are-?" The younger man said and then she straightened her back, trying her best not to let the tears flow down her face.

"Your form is different since you ran from me." She said and _his_ back straightened at this notion while the young man glanced back over to her in confusion, "And I did not expect you to gain such a similar form too."

"OK, could someone explain what the hell is going on here?" The young man asked and glanced between the two before she looked back up to him, a small smile galling her lips as she admired the young man. Long white hair flowed in the wind at his comment while the black sclera and yellow eyes looked down to her, begging for information. Small horns led on his hand and his cyan skin glowed with blue lines that ran across his body while some red lines connected to his features where some marks protruded from his skin. Blue spectral wing-like arms basked down on her as the sun glistened onto him.

"I would love to treat you to some tea for explanations you would like to receive, Nero." She responded and the young man blinked at this before glancing over to _him_. _He_ stood still as she had observed _him_ from the horns on the side of _his_ head blowing out blue flames while _his_ glowing blue eyes stared into her. _His_ silver scales with hints of light blue flowed throughout _his_ body and a segmented tail remained still behind _him_ but wings removed unfurled and stayed close to _his_ back.

_Yes, they both looked like demons or devils to outsiders but she knew to look past the exteriors before casting judgement on them.  
_  
"…Let us follow, Nero." _He_ said to the young man and he blinked at this as she turned around, the breath that was held in her throat was released. She did not expect to see _him_ in such an alternate form that she had gotten used to. The two followed behind her while people stared at the three characters as they made their way across the pebbled road. Her poor feet were starting to hurt as they decided to finally return to her senses and she bit her lip at this, knowing she needed to regain her strength in a better controlled environment.

"Do you need any help walking, Miss?" The young man asked and she looked at him, waving it off.

"No, no, it has just been some time since I have walked around." She said and the young man continued to glance between herself and _him_ as he tried to understand what was going on.

"…What's your name?" He asked her and her eyes glistened at this, her smile stretching wider across her face.

"Oh, I apologize about that but I will inform of it once we reach the destination." She responded and he narrowed his eyes at this, the yellow glistening in them so brightly.

"Are you sure about this?" The young man asked while he looked back to the older man and she sighed.

"Ah, trust is far limited these days." She said and brushed back some of her hair, "I would hope you would be more open to see and what I had to say about myself."

Somehow, the young one felt guilty at her comment and she giggled at the emotion that crossed his face.

"You are far more open to showcasing your emotions than I had thought." She said and then turned forward, pointing her finger to the manor in which she came from, "If your patience could wait just a little longer, answers are there."

"Why wait? You can answer them here." He spat back and she sighed at his comment.

Muttering under her breath, she said, "Your stubbornness definitely came from your father."

"Just follow her, boy." The older man spoke as he then moved towards the Beaux-Arts manor and she walked behind _him_, hearing that the younger man was stomping his feet as he followed them.

"…What date is it?" She asked in a hushed whisper as they approached the manor, the dark wooden and brick exterior haunting over them.

"October 25, 2XXX." _He_ told her and the breath in her lungs stopped, not realizing how many years has past since she was awake.

"Over twenty years." She said and then stopped at the foothold of the manor where the arched windows and cartouche loomed over at them, "One second, I must inform Micah of your presence and my awakening."

"Micah?" _He_ questioned and she placed her hand on the door, gazing inside the darken manor.

"Micah, do not harm the guests. They are who I've been waiting for." She said to the shadows and the young man continued to stare at her in observation. Then without another say, a form came from the shadows with silence and the sound of boots echoed the manor.

A figure turned in the direction of the entrance and the two stared at them. A cloth covered their eyes but scars could be seen from the edges of it, minuscule but many lined their face. Thin lips were parted in a simple smile and their hands were folded in front of their body and a black suit clung to their skin with black gloves covering their thin hands. Brown hair reached the tip of their nose and was cut to the nip of their neck, while two blades with a pinched forward point and edges being concave near the hilt could be seen on their back with no sheath.

"Mistress, you are awake." Micah, the servant, spoke and she smiled at her, nodding.

"Indeed, now please, do no harm to them." She said the servant nodded before she stepped into the manor, the two following her in before the sound of a sword being unfurnished stopped her.

She glanced back behind her and narrowed her eyes at the blade in her servant's hand, stopping the two men from entering.

"You must remove your weapons before entering or I will cut you down." The servant stated and she could feel the pressure from the statement, knowing that would be a problem.

"Micah, forgive them of this rule. They are free to carry their weapons indoors." She said and the servant remained still, blade still raised and ready to attack. She sighed and rubbed the bridge between her brows.

"Micah, you do know the young man so let him carry his weapons." She said and the servant turned their body to her before reexamining him with what seemed to be intuition while the younger man looked between the three in confusion.

"Ah, now I remember that presence from so long ago." The servant stated but still was holding the weapon up and the young man looked confused at the statement said, "But the other I do not know of."

"They share similar energies. They are father and son. Let them in with their weapons. I will not repeat this again." She said in a harsher tone and the servant lowered their weapon, drawing it back to their back.

"I apologize, Mistress. I will not raise arms against them or I shall cut my nose off as retribution." The servant said in response and the young man's eyes grew wide at this.

"Thank you for your servitude, Micah. Now, if you could prepare tea and light snacks that would be wonderful." She said and the servant bowed at the request before disappearing back into the shadows, "Now, if you follow me, I will show you to the dining room and you can ask as many questions as you want."

The youngest was still unsure on what to do but follow the woman as she passed by the staircase that she had just come from mere moments ago. The hall was dark and curtains were pulled together while some portraits hung up against the wall, none featuring herself in them but she did know of all the people in them. Her bare feet made light noise as she reached the doorway that entered the dining room. She shoved it open and the youngest blinked at the open ceiling where glass was exposed and books lined against the wall and a large wooden table was centered in the room.

"Take a seat. Micah shall bring the tea out soon." She said as she scaled the bookshelf, remembering the many nights of study each book when only the moonlight was her light source. The young man admittedly sat down and he sat next to him while sat opposing to them, her features taking on a softer look.

"Now, what would you like to ask me?"

* * *

Nero could only stare at the woman who had cried at the sight of himself and Vergil only moments ago. Her long black hair flowed all the way down to her hips with small hints of gray woven into it was uncombed by the messy state it was and her gray eyes seemed unfocused but still wise. She looked perhaps in her thirties or maybe early forties but he could not really tell from the way she also composed herself. She bore a simple coat and a light dress underneath it from what he could tell.

"So, what's your name?" He asked her and she knit her fingers together on the table.

"Elena Adesso, the Lady of this estate." She replied back and looked back to him, sensing his unease.

"How come I've never seen this place until today?" He asked once he realized that he had never once in his life notice the manor. He thought it was just an empty lot and sealed off from the Order due to some reason that he had no real care about.

"Well, when I awoke, the protection around this manor broke. I no longer needed to be guarded from demons and intruders." She spoke and Nero blinked at this.

"So then you were asleep for twenty fucking years?" He said jokingly and she combed her fingers through her hair, noting the dead ends.

"It has been twenty-four years at least. Perhaps a little less than that." She said and looked in him the eye, the gray in her eyes own seemed to be focusing on something else.

"It has been twenty-three years, three hundred and sixty-four days, seventeen hours and four minutes since you were last awake in the world, Mistress." The servant appeared out of nowhere but had a platter balancing in their hand, which contained a hot water and small packets of different teas laid on the platter. Another platter balanced in their other hand with the cups and small snacks, which happened to be both fruit like blueberries and blackberries and crackers and cheese.

"…That is a specific amount time to remember." Vergil commented for the first time in a while and the servant placed the platters down.

"Mistress, commanded me to remember the exact moment she faded into a coma." The servant said and the woman reached over to the platter, grabbing the kettle with a cup in her other hand, "Now, what tea would you like to have, sir?"

"Earl Grey." He responded back quickly and the woman poured the water into the cup while he looked over to Nero.

"How about you, Young Master?" The servant asked Nero who blinked at the comment and the woman's eyes grew wide at the servant's comment, now the hot tea spilling over the table.

"Huh?" Nero commented and the woman looked flush at the comment, trying to compose herself but was failing as she ignored his gaze, "What do you mean?"  
Vergil released a sigh from his lips and the woman tried to stop the water from spreading before she looked up to Nero, a sorrow filled look appearing across her features.

"Well, since Micah broke the news far earlier than what I would have liked," She began and then looked him in the eye, "I am the one who brought you into this world, your mother."

He blinked then looked over to Vergil and then back to her, seeing her very serious face at the matter.

"What the fuck?" He said and the servant cleaned up the hot water that spilled. He then turned towards Vergil with narrowed eyes and seeing if he showed any emotion at the woman's statement.

"Is that true?" He asked and the woman scoffed at the statement.

"I would remember going through three days of childbirth to a child with some Sparda blood." She said back and he winced at the words, overhearing that childbirth was naturally painful and could result in death to the mother.

And three days sounded like absolute torture.

"My body could only handle so much before I fell into a coma to stay alive. The blood loss I had when delivering you was around 4 pints." She continued to say and glanced over to Vergil, "And I'm sure your grandmother was in a similar state to myself but she did have her husband by her side that help her."

"Jesus," Nero began and he tried to formulate something else to say.

"I also did not expect for you to have a demonic form either. You didn't have one when I first held you in my arms." She said and the servant placed a cup of tea in front of her before moving to Vergil. Nero raised his eyebrow at this and she picked up her cup but her hands were shaking.

"She has the ability to see past our human forms." Vergil said and Nero blinked at this, "She is most likely viewing us in that form at the moment too."

She gave a small smile at this as she decided to put the tea down, saying back, "Unfortunately at the moment, I do not have the control over it like I normally would. My eyes will take some time to readjust and control them so I can see you both in human form."

"And you aren't afraid of it?" Nero commented and she laughed at the comment, some color rising up to her cheeks.

"If I were afraid of it, do you think I would have gotten close to your father?" She said back with some sass and a small smirk perked up on Vergil's lips at the comment. Nero opened his mouth at this but closed it after a second, thinking of another question to ask her.

"Ok, fine." He said and she took sip of the tea, "Why did you sleep with him? It's not like he's got much going for him."

The tea she was drinking choked on at the comment and she coughed at it, trying her best to contain herself.

"T-that is something personal to myself!" She exclaimed and he shrugged at this, not really wanting to hear the reason behind his conception.

"It was more of a joke. You don't have to explain yourself." Nero said and she brushed back some of her hair at this, trying to cool herself down.

"Oh, ok. Well, is there anything else you would like to know?" She asked back and he tapped his fingers against the table.

"Did you wake up due to seeing us appear in Fortuna?"

The sudden question from Vergil had the two look towards Vergil as he was the one who had asked it. She sighed and took another sip of the tea before her servant refilled it instantly.

"I…am not positive. I might have been but I would like to also hope that it was due to being so long and my body has recovered from everything." She said back and he narrowed his eyes at this before accepting her answer.

"Wait, what do you mean seeing us?" Nero interrupted and she stared at him before closing her eyes.

"Currently, the van that drove you to the ferry has a woman creating some sort fo weaponized hand using a dead demon. There are small pictures of yourself along with some that has the woman there and another one with brunette hair inside the van. Many more weapons are lead around and the woman is also smoking a cigarette." She said in an eerie tone and no emotion was made with the comments before she opened her eyes right back up, seeing the shocked and confused expression across his face.

"Ok, what the hell?" He said and she sighed, glancing over to Vergil.

"I have telethesia. It's the ability to see distant occurrences or objects." She said back and looked now more towards Nero, "Do you need any other proof, Nero?"

He opened his mouth then closed it and shook his head no before the servant walked over to the woman.

"Mistress, would you like to change into proper clothing attire?" The servant asked and she glanced up to Micah before sighing.

"No, I will wait. I have questions I would like to ask them. You may go rest yourself." She told them and the servant nodded before walking away, leaving through the door that they had entered. She turned back to them and then looked to Nero.

"No more questions for the time. Good." She said then reached over and grabbed some of the fruit, placing it in her palm and her eyes remained on the food "Now, explanations are needed for me to be caught up. First question is to why in your right mind would you separate yourself into separate deities, Vergil?"

She plopped one of the blackberries in her mouth as she stared deeply into the cobalt eyes of Vergil who remained silent. He sighed and she put another piece of fruit in her mouth, chewing it and staring at it awaiting his answer.

"For power." He said back and she scoffed at this before leaning back in her chair.

"Now, what type of power? We all know that every word had a different meaning to it. Your definition of power is different from Nero's to say. So, give me a clearer definition." She said and Nero's eyes grew wide at how outspoken she was on the topic.

Maybe he got that trait from her?

"I have my own reasons." Vergil commented and in response to that, she slammed her hands on the table.

"Yes, explain them to me then. Explain to me why you cut off your son's arm off? Why separate yourself into man and demon? Why eat the fruit? Why remove yourself from others?" She hissed at him and Vergil narrowed his eyes at this, playing with Yamato under the table at her comments. She then sighed and sat down in her chair, looking more pale than before.

"Hey, are you ok?" Nero asked and she looked to him, sweat glistening on her forehead.

"I am fine." She stated and continued to wait for Vergil's answer, "If I need to stay for eternity to await my answer, I shall since I have waited so long to be awake. What is another twenty four years for answers?"

Maybe he gained some of his stubbornness from her too?

Nero groaned at this and rubbed his face at this, knowing that nothing would get very far.

"How would I know that I had a son when I received no word of it from you?" Vergil responded back and she remained silent on that, causing Nero to think of the issue too.

Why had she not told Vergil about his existence? It might have changed so much of their story.

"How could I find you? Do you think if I could have contact you, I would have?" She said back and Vergil looked away at this, knowing that he choose to walk away in pursuit of more power, not once thinking of her again until not so long ago.

"…who was my mom?"

Nero's voice echoed in his head and he responded back, "…Fine, you have made your point."

She nodded at this and grabbing some more fruit, which this time was some blueberries and slices of apple.

"Good, now will you answer my question or would you like so more time to answer me? I have plenty more questions to ask that might be more suitable to answer." She told them and Vergil remained quiet, allowing the silence to be his answer, "Now, how much do you truly remember since being corrupted?"

"Well, enough." He answered quickly and she tapped her finger on the table.

"Did you gain this form from eating the fruit?" She demanded and Nero looked at her like she was wishing for death but her gaze was powerful and demanded answers. Vergil remained stoic before rubbing the ridge between his brow and Nero also awaited his answer.

"No, my current form was not due to that." He said and relief grew across her features.

"Ok, that is good news to hear." She muttered under her breath and nibbled the apple slice, "How did you find out that Nero was your child?"

"My brother informed me." Vergil simply stated and she chuckled at this.

"Your infamous brother, Dante, informed you of Nero's existence as your child?" She said and glanced over to Nero, "And when did you learn that Vergil was your father, Nero?"

Nero rubbed his nose at the question before responding, "Dante did after he," Nero gestured and pointed to Vergil, "merged back to together and went off on his merry way. Dante was trying to stop me from going after him and killing him."

Her cheeks perked up at this and her eyes glistened, turning her attention back to Vergil.

"Now, I really must meet your brother." She said slyly like she implying that she had heard about Dante before. He remained silent on the matter and she looked down to the food.

"Is there anything else you want to ask him?" Nero questioned her and she took a small sip of her tea.

"No but I do want something." She said and Nero raised his eyebrows at this, curiosity takes over.

"What do you want?" Vergil asked of her and a gleam appeared in her eyes, slowly placing an apple in her mouth and chewing it. She took Vergil's patience like it was nothing and he stared at her while Nero looked between the two like some sort of match was about to go down.

"You have debts you owe me. One is for walking away without saying a word to me. Another is for having me bring your child into the world by myself. And the final one is cutting off his arm." She bluntly told him and Nero blinked at this.

"You have no claim for-" Vergil began but she stopped him admittedly with a sharp glare.

"I have every right to claim a debt against you. He is my son. You took something from him. Even though it has been replaced, how much pain and suffering do you think he endured? You will take that debt up for me if he has not reclaimed it back. Don't try to fight me on this, Vergil. I will debate against you until you agree." She hissed back like a snake ready to attack with venom and he scowled at her argument. He glanced away for a moment and knew that she would continue to fight him in words to showcase her point.

She always had a way with words, like a manipulator with the charm of the devil in her words.

"…I will agree to the first two. We will argue more about the final one later." He hushed out and she agreed with him for the moment with the nod of her head, "How do you want these debts repaid?"

"You owe nine months for leaving me with a child. For walking away from me, that will be costly but I am willing to be open about how you can pay me back." She said and glanced over to Nero, "Allow me to carry the Yamato for a singular week and the debt for leaving me will be clean."

Vergil shot up from his chair, glaring down at her like she was crazy and gripping the Yamato tight in his hand.

"You must be insane." He fumed and she shrugged at the comment.

"That ain't a bad deal, old man." Nero stated from the sidelines and Vergil glared at his son, "Just saying, I'm sure she is willing to hold some options to in case of anything. And she could have demanded more than a week too. I sure as hell would have said much longer."

"I am willing to be open, Vergil. Like say we are within the same room, I will leave it in the corner undisturbed while walking I will hold onto it. At night, you may take it but I will take it back admittedly in the morning." She discussed and looked up to him and for a moment, some image or memory flashed across his head.

_Her wise gray eyes looked up to him in curiosity as she held a pencil in her thin fingers, twirling it around while the small artist book remained blank on one side while the other half had small sketches of human forms distorted in ways many could not achieve. Her thin lips were perched together and her short black hair graced her features. She bore the familiar red dress that many of Fortuna's people wore but did not have any of the white garnishments._

_"You know that I will bring you to the Archives in a few more minutes. If you stay still I will be able to capture the pose I need." She said back and brushed back strands of her hair behind her ear._

_"Why must you need me for this nonsense? Do you not have anyone else who is actually willing to do this?" He requested and she rolled her eyes at this before her pencil made marks on the page, the lines marking their way into some figure._

_"Because you have the debt of me bringing you to the Archives. This will be my repayment. Just deal with it for a little longer."_

Vergil's head cleared up and returned to the present where she awaited his answer on her request.

"Four days." Vergil argued and she raised an eyebrow at this.

"A week." She demanded again and he remained still, the grip on the blade tightening at every word she spoke.

"Four days." He said again and Nero looked between the two, annoyance beginning to build up in his system.

They were arguing like they were children.

"Just fucking accept her damn deal already!" Nero shouted back and the two adults turned their attention down to him.

Now it did feel like he had interrupted something between the two and he was going to be scowled at for his outburst.

"How about six days instead?" She suggested instead and Vergil's gaze snapped back to her, seeing that her gray eyes softened at the outburst from Nero.

Vergil still hated the mere idea of not having the beloved blade in his hands but he knew that her words were as solid on keeping their promise even though she had manipulated others.

_But she had never once manipulated her words to him.  
_  
"That will be acceptable." He hushed out and she stared up at him with delight and happiness.

"Thank you, Vergil." She said in a hushed voice and a small headache pounded against his skull, some other imagery or memory flashed against his eyes.

_"Thank you, Vergil." She hushed out as she stared at the ground, grass pulled apart and dirt stained her black formal dress, the shelves open wide with lacy weaved into the fabric and her nails were colored a darken brown. Her gray eyes were rimmed red and speckles of red were splashed on her face while her hair was pulled up, revealing the curve of her neck. Her lips were parted as her gaze never left the ground, yet it was not the ground that she looked at but a small block of rock with words carved into it._

_His eyes followed her gaze to it and he did not feel anything towards the name but he knew that she was burdened by the sorrow from the name on the rock._  
_**NERO ADESSO,** beloved son and brother._

"Vergil?"

He blinked for a mere second and noticed that she was at his side, eyes glazing up at him with small concern.

"Are you alright?" She questioned and he scoffed at it, glancing over to Nero who didn't make any move at all to see about his state.

"I am fine." He spouted to her and she looked away before moving back over to her seat.

"Nero," She said and the young man looked up to her, "Would you mind leaving for a few moments? You are free to wander around if you would like. Call for Micah and they will help if you need it. All rooms should be open to go through."

He remained still before standing up and walking to the door, saying back, "Fine, I'll see what you got interesting here."

She nodded as he opened the door and left the two alone for the first time in so far along. Once the door was properly closed, she down in the seat that Nero had just occupied and he glowered down at her.

"How badly did becoming Mundus' servant really affect your memory and soul, Vergil?" She said and a shudder fell upon him at the name, not wanting to showcase anything but she noticed it admittedly.

"It did nothing of the sorts." He ushered to her and she hummed at the answer, crossing her legs together while glancing at his tea that he had barely touched. She looked towards the bookshelf and released a breath.

"'Love seeketh not Itself to please, Nor for itself hath any care; But for another gives its ease, And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair.'" She quoted and saw how he sank down into his seat, leaning his back against the wood and his hand clutching the sword tightly, "That is still one of my favorite stanzas of Blake's work. …perhaps you are willing to talk when you feel up to it. I can wait."

"What do you plan on doing now that you are awake?" Vergil enquired as he moved away from their previous topic and she smirked at the question.

"Well, you have made your deal with me so I plan on following you for the time being. I will of course have to meet your brother and Nero's girlfriend. Other than that, I am open to any sorts of travel." She spoke up and he tapped a finger against the table. Silence surrounded the two and she couldn't help but stare at him.

"Would you like to take a stroll with me in the gardens?" She asked and he glanced at her as she stood up.

"Perhaps you would like to get changed first?" He said and she looked down to her outfit, remembering that she had indeed gotten out of bed and ran out to greet them. She chuckled at this and scratched the back of her head.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Then does the request for the garden sound well for you in a little bit?" She said and he gave a silent nod, watching her as she stood up. She bit her lip at the small amount of pain from standing up and slowly made her way to the door.

"Do you need assistance?" He asked and she stopped, leaning against the table before glancing back at him.

"That would be very helpful. Thank you." She answered as he moved next to her and she raised her own hand up, "As long as you can stay near me, I should be fine."

He gave no acknowledge to the comment as he made a movement to grab her hand and walked with her arm in while she gave a simple smile of appreciation towards the action.

* * *

Nero wandered around the manor with his head full of confusion and slight content knowing that Vergil did not lie about helping him find his mother. He stared at the portraits that lined the walls, seeing many male figures with their names in the frames. They all looked similar with onyx black hair and gray eyes that looked out towards the wall but he felt like they were staring down at him with their own curiosity. He crossed his arms over his chest before moving to the next frame and stopped at it.

The man in the next one caused him to look longer. He had thick onyx hair swiped to the right side of his face and his gray eyes had some form of a twinkle in it whether it was happiness or interest Nero couldn't tell. He sat down in a chair in a black dark suit with a small white tie while the collar was flared up. His nose was pointed out and a smirk across his face as he looked out. Nero's glaze traveled down to the name plate on the painting and blinked at it, confusion written over his expression.

"What the hell?" He muttered and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was reading it right.

**NERO ADESSO  
**  
"That was the previous Master to the manor."

The sudden voice of Micah caused the young man to jump at their presence now next to himself. The servant's boots echoed the hallway as they stood in front of the painting and their head turned towards him.

"Well, what happened to him?" He asked and they remained still.

"He died unfortunately." They said and gripped their hands tight, before moving their head to the painting.

"There a reason why we have the same name?" Nero questioned and the servant stayed silent for a moment.

"Now, I believe the Mistress would have the answer you are seeking." They said and Nero scowled at this, looking back at the painting.

"How long have you been the servant here for anyway?" He asked and a dead look appeared on their features.

"Many centuries I have served the household. I have been proudly serving and protecting the Mistress since she fell to sleep. It was one of her orders to keep her preserved until she would either die from natural causes or be awaken." They told him and Nero blinked at the first sentence, trying to tell if they were lying.  
"What exactly are you?" He muttered and they turned to them before moving their hands to the wrap around their eyes.

"For I am what I was created from. I have protected my masters for centuries and I will continue to do so until the day that the name is erased." They said and pulled the band down. Nero stared blankly into the empty browned sockets of where their eyes were but the texture around the area looked like soil and clay. Their eye sockets were bare and it seemed to crumble lightly on the edges.

"I was molded by the dirt of your ancestors from many centuries ago. Now as like I have been for so many centuries, I will continue to serve until my body disappears into which I came from." They spoke then pulled the band back over their eyes, "I hope that answers your questions, young master."  
"Like are you a monster?" Nero said and the servant shook their head no.

"No, I am a being created by man who looked for protection in desperate times. I am what some call, גולם." They said and Nero raised a brow at the foreign word, "A golem is the English term of my being if that helps, young master."

Nero's expression changed to shock at the term they used to describe themselves. He had read and heard about them before but had never seen one until today and they did not envision the picture he had in his mind.

"I believe the Mistress is in need of my help. Call upon me if you have any other questions or needs, Young Master, and I will head right over." The servant said before disappearing into the shadows again and leaving Nero more confused about who exactly his mother was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**: Thank you guys for the feedback and everything! I'll try to fix the previous chapter so it doesn't look like a hot mess unlike how this one is. Anyways, thanks for the favorites, follows, and reviews again! Sorry about this chapter being a day late, I legit forgot to post until I got home today from work. This stanza is the same as the previous chapter but I think it fits right in with it so I decided to leave until the following chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

"And I wept both night and day,

And he wiped my tears away;

And I wept both day and night,

And hid from him my heart's delight."

-_The Angel_, Stanza 2, William Blake

* * *

She stared at the mirror before her as she looked before her own reflection. She finally had the chance to look at herself clearly and saw how long her hair had grow, knotted and tangled about. Small wrinkles were under her eyes and her eyes looked uncertain while her features from prior to her sleep remained the same. She moved her gaze down to her clothes, which she changed into, and happened to be: a floral lace dress with small ruffles pushed out with long sleeves that were angel shaped from a thin material.

_If not for the strands of gray hair and small wrinkles, she could have assumed that she did not age a day while sleeping._

"Mistress, you look stunning."

The compliment from the servant caused a grin to appear on her features and she chuckled a little before noticing that Vergil simply stared at her from the corner of the room.

"Thank you, Micah. Now, would you be as kind to help me with my hair? I'm afraid it has some need to fixed up a little." She said and the servant nodded before moving to another corner of the room, knowing where to find the supplies for her hair.

"What would you like me to do?" The servant asked and she tapped her finger against her arm.

"Well, if you could cut off some of it then braid it that would be wonderful." She answered and looked back to Vergil, eyes still looking like they were focused on something else.

"How long will it take before your sight will be under your control?" He questioned and she rubbed her eyes, closing them for a second before opening them back up.

"Perhaps in a day." She said as Micah walked over to her with scissors, brush and blue ribbon in hand. The servant began combing through her hair and she closed her eyes again, this time focusing on the manor. Her head fell slightly limp but watched as she saw Nero staring at the portraits of the previous owners of the manor, noting that his gaze was towards her predecessor with confusion but also interest.

"The Young Master was curious about why he shares his name with the previous master. I informed him that you would enlighten him on that subject." Micah spoke up and she opened her eyes when she heard the sound of the scissors clipping.

"Thank you for that. I will tell him when the time comes." She said as clumps of hair fell to the ground and after a few more cuts, the servant began to comb their fingers through the top of her hair and split it up into three sections. They began braiding her hair and she could already feel how lighter it was compared to moments ago, her breath was even as the braid was finished. Micah tied it up with the blue ribbon and created a small bow in it, before she turned towards Vergil with a smile on her face.

"Now, let us go on that walk."

* * *

Nero continued to wander through the hallways but the painting of the previous head of the house continued to stay in his vision as he glanced around at the architecture and small pottery scattered around the place.

Then he stopped upon an open room and saw a small light from the window in the corner. He moved to it and slowly opened the door, staring at the room itself. Within it was colored light blue from the ceiling to the floor and a small mobile twirled lightly above a white crib. He felt a shiver up his spine and he decided to ignore the feeling as he stepped inside. The floorboards groaned at his appearance as he looked more around the room: some stuffed animals were piled in one corner, dusty and moldy from the looks of it, while a book or photo album sat on a small desk.

He walked over to it with curiosity and the mobile spun around causing a small noise to come from it. He picked the book up and blew dust off of it, seeing the cover was easier to read. The book was made with a soft fabric but sewn into it was just his own name. He gulped as he decided to open it up and stared at the words written into it.

_'My dearest boy, I can't wait to see you. My heart soars each day as it gets closer to when you will arrive. I'm afraid it will be just me that raises you since your father never knew that I was with you. He went off for a higher purpose and I know that occupies his mind for the being but perhaps in the future you will get to meet him. You will have questions about him and once you are old enough I will tell you the truth about him but for now, this will showcase my journey I had with you._

_I love you, Nero._

_And I will make sure to let you know of that everyday.'_

He stared at the note for a while before gulping and moved on to the next page, turning it over and stared at the image that greeted him. Before him in a small photo was Elena with short hair just at her shoulders and no sight of gray in her hair while her eyes twinkled at whoever was taking the picture. She wore a smock with paint covered on it while the hems of a blue dress could be seen under it. A painting was seen behind her, not finished by the looks of it from the spots of empty canvas but he noticed that it strangely looked like the man who shared his name.

Below the picture was small text, stating,_ 'I was only eighteen when I found out you were alive. I had never pictured a day that I would have a child but finding out about you made my heart soar.'_

"Jesus, she was young." He muttered under his breath at the statement written before him as he gaze moved to the next picture, seeing that it was a piece of paper but words and names were listed across it. The words were written in cursive and many were placed on it: Noah, Rodin, Arlo, Sandro, Artemisia, Helena, Francesca, Lavinia, and Veronica. But circled around and underlined was the name he had: Nero. Underneath the note was again more writings, which stated this time, '_I contemplated about your name for quite some time. I didn't know about whether or not you would be a girl or boy until I knew a few months that in my heart you were a boy. It was a gut feeling and your name had an obvious choice.'_

_An obvious choice?_ _So, he was named after the previous master for whatever reason she had._

He flipped to the next page but stopped at the vision of the door moving, causing him to look over and see what was it.

The previous master stood at the foot of the room with his arms behind his back with a stern expression on his face. His gray eyes looked slightly clouded and his black hair was pushed off to the side but some was placed into a ponytail. His figure looked opposing but his face seemed soft. He bore the same suit that was pictured in the frame but a small button of a blue rose was pinned to the suit's jacket onto pocket.

_How the hell was he there when the servant told him that the previous master died?_

The man looked behind him and motioned for someone to follow him in. He blinked at the sight of who it was.

_His supposed mother._

Her head was bowed down, gaze low to the ground and her hair tied up in elaborate knots while small strands of hair were left out. She wore a red dress, similar to all those who lived in Fortuna, with a white laced collar that stuck up to her neck. She looked far younger than what he had just saw moments ago, like she was teenager. Her lips were pierced together and she glanced up to the man.

The man then opened his mouth and Nero expected words to come out but no noise was made. He raised an eyebrow at this and stood up, expecting them to take notice of him but they did no such thing.

"Hello?" He said and the man walked right past him, pointing to the wall while his mother looked up to it before a smile crossed her features, opening her mouth and saying something too but no words came across his ears.

"What the fuck?" He muttered and decided to close and rub his eyes to see if he was clearly seeing correctly. Once he opened his eyes, the two disappeared like figures of his imagination and he released a breath, looking back down to the book that laid on the ground. He reached down to grab it and looked back to the doorway before deciding to leave the room and explore more but wanting to understand more from the book.

* * *

Elena glanced over to Vergil as the two slowly entered the garden of the household, where surprisingly many of the plants were still alive but not many insects were around. She took her pace carefully and the plants rose up like they were trying to reach heaven, climbing up the side of the manor.

"Did you expect to find me alive, Vergil?" She asked him as they followed the path that curved along the edges of the plants.

He stayed silent for a moment before responding back, "I was not sure on what I was expecting to find. Nero wanted answers about you and I agreed to come back to Fortuna to help him in a quest of seeking you."

"Did you even tell him my name?" She asked as her arm brushed up against the plants, tickling her skin, and he stayed silent on it. Her shoes clicked once striking the ground and she moved in front of him, stopping their following steps from any further.

"You can be honest with me, Vergil. Were you expecting me to be dead?" She said instead and he bite the inside of his lip.

"I was not sure on what I expected to find when returning back here." He responded again and she stared at his chest, remaining silent on the matter before nodding.

"That does make sense." She said and looked up to the large maple tree they were approaching up ahead with its branches reaching up towards the heavens, spreading in every direction possibly, "Assuming the worse would have been the correct way to approach my essence to Nero. He is quite different personality wise compared to ourselves and making him believe that myself being dead would have been easier to handle for yourself. But if you were to completely ignore my existence that would have caused far more problems than what has been brought up now. You made a smart move on that, Vergil. I will give you that."

She glanced down to the ground and noticed some small pebbles before leaning down and grabbing them. She turned herself back to him and she blinked for a second at the possible sight of seeing him in his human form.

His white hair was combed back like she always remembered with his blue eyes observing her with much intensity. His face did looked like aged a little but he still looked young in the eyes of most society and small bags could be seen under his eyes from how close she was to him. He stood only nine inches taller than herself in what she believed to be his human form and he wore similar clothing to what she remembered him in: a dark coat with serpentine patterns and designs in neon blue with three separated coattails with the edges slightly frayed, a zippered up turtleneck was beneath a midnight blue formal vest, black pants, dark teal boots with several straps, and charcoal gray fingerless gloves darted on his hands.

_He didn't even change from when she had last seen him besides barely aging. And he looked not like she had thought she would seen from Mundus' corruption._

She dropped the pebbles at these sight of him and he blinked at this, glancing down at them before moving his attention back to her. She paled at the sight of his human form but in an instant of blinking that form returned back to his demonic one and she realized that she had dropped the pebbles she just collected.

"Oops," She muttered at the realization and she bent back down to collect them, her hands slightly shaking at the appearance of being able to see his human form. She picked them up and straightened herself out by patting down her dress.

"Are you sure you are alright?" He questioned and she scoffed at the question, raising an eyebrow at it.

"I am fine, Vergil. You should have asked me that question earlier when you first saw me." She commented and he pressed his lips together at it. She walked past him and continued down the path where he remained for a few seconds before following closely behind her, arms behind his back as he observed the garden that he had seen before quite a few times. She glanced back at him and she clutched the pebbles hard in her fist, trying to hide the fact that she should have been prepared to see him in his human form.

The wind rustled around them and small pieces of her hair tickled her skin while her gaze returned back in front of her, seeing rose bushes flourish upwards. They closed themselves towards the pathway and made no attempt to be easy on them as she weaved around them, trying not to scratch herself.

She stopped at reaching the end of the pathway and looked down at her feet where grass laid green and flourishing outwards. There at the base of the tree laid a stone carved across with a name that she never forgot and an inscription that stayed true even after so many years later. On the top of the stone laid small pebbles and rocks, which she counted quickly to be twenty-three, and inscribed on the stone was: _**NERO ADESSO, **beloved son and brother._

She stared at it before kneeling down to it and noticed that it was kept clean, mostly likely done by the servant of the household. She placed her hand with the pebbles onto the gravestone and gently let them off, some knocking into the others. She sealed her eyes for a second, muttering something under breath before Vergil stood next to her, staring at the grave.

"You still treat him properly even after all he did to you." He spoke, more to himself, and she opened her eyes again, looking up at him from her kneeling.

"Of course. I forgave him the moment he left this world." She spoke back while her gaze returned to the stone, "I knew he never meant for what happened. Unfortunately, the mind is easy place to distort reality and I knew he was starting to go for some time but never accepted how bad it could be. Denial is a part of grief and I could not move past that stage when the time came."

Vergil remained still at this while she continued to stare up at him intently, an eyebrow raised at his stillness.

"You do know that since you are here with me, you too should place a stone too?" She said in a stern tone and he looked like she said something out of the ordinary while she sighed at his motionlessness. She reached over and grabbed his hand, slightly pulling him towards her which caused him to stumble a little but his footing caught up to him.

"Even though he did not like you Vergil, it is custom for his beliefs that whoever visits his gravestone will leave a marking that they have visited. You will do so as a way to respect him." She told him and the cold touch of his fingers caused her a small smile to cross her features, remembering another time when they had held their hands together even if for a second.

He couldn't help but stare at her slim fingers that grasped his glove and hand before he slowly pulled his hand away from hers to do what she had asked of him mere seconds ago. He reached down from the ground and picked a small stone, nothing of any importance, then placed it on the top of the gravestone. Her body relaxed at this as she slowly pulled her self up and dusted her dress off.

"Thank you, Vergil." She spoke and he nodded at this before her gaze drifted back up to the tree, "You know, I named Nero after him in hopes that the name would be cleared from all that has been placed onto it."

"You do know there is other history behind that name, correct?" Vergil responded back and she smirked at this.

"I believe Nero could replace that image that has been put upon that name." She asserted and a small breeze picked up around them causing the ribbon that held her hand to unravel and fly up. Her eyes grew wide at this and she reached up to grab it but her height proved useless as Vergil had admittedly snatched up it with one hand before it could fly away. She remained still as she realized how close the two were to each other, just mere inches, and she stared at the details of his skin which glowed and pulsed ice-blue with every breath he took.

"You are staring." He told her and she locked gazes with him as she smiled at this.

"Of course. I missed you. I can't believe that you are standing before me and I am awake." She said with disbelief and another gust of wind blew around them, concealing the small tears that formed in her eyes, "I thought…I saw everything and I held doubt in my heart. I saw what Mundus did to you and I thought you were gone but…like I have said, the mind does play its tricks on itself."

The wind died down and she looked down to her own feet, trying to conceal the small droplets of tears that fell from her eyes.

"I felt terrified at what I saw…seeing you slice your own son's arm off because of what Mundus had done to you and separating yourself into the two things that make you yourself. I did not want to think that you would stoop that low for power but who am I judge when I thought I could save a man who wanted to kill me for a future he saw?" She spoke up and awaited some sort of response to the statement she concurred.

"I hold no grudge against you, Elena." He said and she jumped at him saying her name, causing her gaze to look back up at his own but he simply stared at the blue ribbon in his hand, "And I do not need your pity."

"Well, you will still receive it whether you want it or not." She spoke up and she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, releasing a breath to calm herself, "My pity is only thing I offer at the moment since I have not forgiven you for your disappearance or other deeds you have committed since I have last seen you."

Vergil glanced away and he felt a small amount of guilt weaving its way into his mind at her comment before she looked over to the manor.

"I do not resent you for killing him but I wish I could have done something to stop him." She said and gazed at a window that directly looked out to the garden, "I always thought that everyone could be saved but he was too late to save perhaps."

"Do you think the same for me?" Vergil questioned and she turned her head in his direction, eyes narrowed while a sly look took place in them.

"No because you are here, put together, with Nero. If you had died as the demon then yes, you were far to gone but because your will to live overpowered your thoughts for power I can say in at least my eyes you still have time to be saved." She hushed out and clicked her tongue, "But I am not Nero, nor am I a mindreader, he's thoughts on you are different from my own."

Vergil continued to be silent before she noticed the ribbon again and she undid the braid that still partially remained in her hair. She started pulling her hair up and glanced to him, an eyebrow raised up.

"Would you mind tying it for me, Vergil?" She requested and he looked at her with interest before sighing. He moved the ribbon underneath her hair before tying it around then knotting it at the base of her head and once she felt the knot against her skull, she pulled away and pieces of her hair brushed against Vergil's fingers, which reminded him of a distant memory in the back of his mind.

_Bristles of her thick hair tickled his neck while she remained still, her breath even and eyes closed as she laid next to him. Her breath was warm as it closed in on his cheek and her hands grasped the sheets she laid underneath in. He slowly moved his own hand to touch her hair and played with it between his fingers before a small chuckle caused him to drop the hairs and look at her face where her eyes opened up._

_"Curious about my hair? I'm surprised. Most men would try something vile against a woman who just falls asleep once touching a bed. But you are not like most men, are you, Vergil?" She said and her eyes twinkled at this while a smile made its way onto her features. He turned his gaze away and she remained still before sighing, moving herself up in the bed._

_"Well, I guess we should get going in search of those books you are looking for." She said and he moved himself with silence up but for some reason, he could not help but think about wanting to feel her hair against his skin again._

"Let us go back inside." She said and he blinked, realizing that she was already heading back. He stared down at his hands in confusion but also a small amount of happiness wove into his heart at the memory.

* * *

Nero continued to walk down the absent halls of the manor with the book in his hand and he glanced out one of the windows, seeing Vergil and Elena heading back to the manor. Vergil walked a few feet behind her and from his view, he wasn't frowning like his usual composed figure but it looked more relaxed.

_He actually looked at ease._

"The Mistress is heading back inside, young Master. Would you like to join them?" The voice of Micah echoed behind him and he turned back to them where they staid with their arms behind their back and awaited his answer.

"In a little bit. I wanna keep looking around." He spoke and they nodded.

"Alright. I do suggest if you keep following this wing of the manor, you might find some interesting details." Micah spoke and he raised an eyebrow at this before they left without another say. He looked back in the direction he was heading in and noticed a door open at the end of the hall, no light really entering it but from an outside source. He approached it with inquisitiveness and peaked in before his eyes grew wide at the sight: multiple canvas leaned against the wall, where one right against another in various sizes and shapes, a desk in the corner held many painting brushes and palettes, sketchpads and pencils. Some of the canvas were fully painted while others were sketched on and some were halfway completed. He placed the book down on the table and decided to browse through them in interest.

_So, his mother was an artist._

_**And an excellent one it seemed.**_

Most of the paintings he scoured through were of people, very similar to some of the ones out in the main hallway of the previous masters of the household. Then he stopped on one that he had to pull out from the pile and stared at its content for a second.

The canvas was squared and about two feet on each side and the piece displayed a woman with closed eyes and long onyx hair hugging her stomach which was seen through by an image of a fetus inclosed in the woman's stomach. Blue flowers surrounded the image of her while above her bent head was a white, serpentine pattern like snakes but instead of attacking her seemed to be protecting her.

_Was that supposed to be his mother?_

He placed the painting aside and continued to dig through them, noting that some of them were just simple still lives of fruits or objects, which to himself were boring. He sighed and moved on to another pile where they were mostly just sketches on the canvas. He stopped though when he saw one of a figure in mostly outlines but it was noticeable of the details in the figure who sat in a chair with a book in hand. The figure was hard to distinguish but from the combed back hair and a familiar jacket that was placed behind the chair, Nero knew that the piece was of his father.

_Did she just sketch it out from her own imagination or was Vergil originally posing for her to do a painting of himself?_

More pieces behind that one were of still lives involving jewelry and a ribbon but the last one in the back had actual paint on it. He pulled it out and blinked at the sight of a stoic expression on his father's younger face and only one eye was painted the icy and cobalt blue while the other was simply sketched out in fine detail. It only showcased up to the top of his chest but Nero noticed that something red out of all the blue features and empty placements. An amulet hung loose around his neck but could be barely seen from the coat the wrapped around his neck.

He's seen the amulet before with Dante but never his father. Did he have it prior to disappearing or was it lost?

He scowled and shook his head to clear his thoughts, moving to the last pile which contained mostly unfinished works. Again, similar to the prior pieces he saw were the still lives but suddenly some went into a darker color scheme like a singular piece was just paint dripping down but it was more detailed than he thought, like vines or thrown moving to the bottom but stopped only an few inches away were a sketch of a hand reaching out from the ink or thorns or whatever it was suppose to be.

He stared at it longer and his heart felt heavy at the image for some reason. He closed his eyes for a second and rubbed the bridge between his eyebrows.

_It definitely had some meaning behind itself and he couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was suppose to be a surreal piece of some sorts?_

He opened his eyes and realized that he no longer was in the room anymore but darkness utterly surrounded him with no light in sight.

"What the fuck?" He questioned and tried to look around but his head seemed to be forced at the position it was at. Silence again surrounded him and he frowned at this, confused why his ears couldn't hear anything.

Then something forced his attention away and something began to invade his vision, surrounding him, and with closer realization it was the thorns or paints that was in the painting he had just observed.

"Ok, what the fuck again?" He hissed and then out of the corner of his eye, something glistened off in the corner like a treasure blinding him. It stood up in what seemed to be like water and Nero could release a breath at the sight of the object: the Yamato shattered like how he had originally found it.

_Why was the Yamato in whatever the hell dream or illusion he was dealing with?_

Then he blinked again and the image and scene that was appearing before him disappeared like a fog suddenly lifting up and he was right back in the room. He turned his head and looked around, trying to sense if some demons were causing the weird visions and illusions to himself but nothing was around.

Whatever he was seeing was fucking with his mind and he was getting more and more pissed off at whatever was causing them.

_**Could it be just because he was in such unfamiliar territory and with someone he adjust met that his mind was trying to screw with him?**_

He sighed and placed the piece back done and grabbed the book that he had brought with him. Maybe it was time to regroup with his parents and see what the plan was now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**: Thank you for the reviews, LillianxJane! I'm glad you are enjoying the story and sorry about the grammatical errors and such, I'm not great at catching those and I do not have a beta reader so editing is just done by myself. I appreciate all the favorites, follows, and reviews on this story! And the next chapter will be the last one in this story until I post the prequel or sequel. Again, thanks and I hope you guys have a great day! Enjoy!

* * *

"Youth of delight come hither.  
And see the opening morn,  
Image of truth new born.  
Doubt is fled & clouds of reason  
Dark disputes & artful teazing."  
-_The Voice of the Ancient Bard_, William Blake

* * *

Once walking back into the dining room, Nero looked at the two adults as they entered the room with Elena moving first and Vergil trailing behind her. She stared at Nero for a second and then noticed the book laying on the table, as if it were taunting her, but she merely smiled at him. Vergil glanced at the boy and saw that he did look at Vergil like he was intrigued at what occurred between the two adults when they separated. Elena stood next to Nero and moved her hand to the cover of the book.

"I guess you did find something interesting while you scoured the manor." She said and he looked back down to the book.

"Yeah, you have some interesting stuff here. Especially all those paintings." He spoke and she blinked at this, surprised that he had discovered those.

"So, you saw them. What did you think of them?" She asked with slight happiness, a twinkle appearing in her eyes at the mention of them, "I know there are quite a few unfinished pieces but I hope you did see the finished ones."

He blinked at the sudden joy in her features for mentioning her paintings and she awaited his answer.

"Uh…I'm not really the person to judge stuff like that but they all looked really good." He said and she waved her hand at this.

"That doesn't matter! I want _your _opinion on them." She demanded and Nero was taken aback at her intensity of the matter, nearly bumping back into the table at her fierceness. He rubbed the back of his head at this and she continued to wait for his answer.

"Well, they're really interesting. They all look professional. It looks like you took time in creating them and planned them out carefully." He answered and a light blush crossed over her cheeks, scratching her cheeks at the comment. "I was hoping that you could explain some of them to me later if that's ok."

"Of course, Nero." She spoke in a soft tone and her heart soared at those words until she looked back at the back laying on the table. Its dirty cover haunted her and she pulled it closer to herself, her hand covering the title in hope that Vergil did not see it. Nero observed that move and she smiled back at him, hoping he would stay silent about it.

"When did you create the book?"

The sudden question Vergil caused her head to wipe around at him and she stared at him for a second while brushing some hair back.

"I started working on it after finding out I was pregnant." She answered and she gently rubbed the cover of the book, a small smile making its way onto her features. She grabbed it and opened it up, staring at its contents.

"I found out about three months after you left." She reported and then looked him in the eye, "And you had just fell into the Underworld by that time. I could not tell you since I have no form of communication there."

He stayed silent on the matter while Nero raised an eyebrow at this, slightly confused on the matter.

"I see." The stoic man said and she looked up to Nero, her eyes still seeing him in his demonic form.

"Nero, would you like to hold onto that book?" She questioned and he blinked at this, glancing down at it. He contemplated about it before she just placed it in his hands without any say and he stared down at it.

"If you would like, I can talk with you about it while reading it together. I'm sure from some of the first few pages you had some questions and I would be happy to explain them to you." She told him and he gave a soft smile at this, nodding at the mention.

"Yeah, that would nice." He whispered and she looked up at him with relief while the corners of her mouth broke into a smile.

"Wonderful, now is there anything you would like to know?" She questioned him and he froze up at the question, trying to think of anything but everything seemed to be speeding so fast around him. He looked over to Vergil who remained fixated on the book that she had handed to Nero and then looked back down to her, seeing her curiosity remained fixed on him.

"Could you explain the reason behind my name?" He asked and the curiosity in her eyes dimmed at the question, sorrow taking over her features.

"…Of course, you deserve an explanation behind it." She mumbled and pulled a chair out from the table, sitting herself down. Her eyes gained a distant look as if she was reliving some sort of memory connected to the Nero frowned at this, not thinking her reaction to the question would be so sad to talk about, and he opened his mouth to say maybe she could tell him another time but surprisingly someone else stepped in.

"You need rest. Don't bother yourself with the question."

The sudden input from Vergil caused Nero to stare at him with wide eyes, shocked that he even made the comment, and she laughed at the comment instead. Nero glanced between the two and she rested her arm on the table, allowing her chin to rest in her hand as she observed Vergil with interest.

"I've rested for too long, Vergil. Actions should be made now." She replied and she motioned for Nero to sit down, "I will tell you the reasoning behind your name but I will not give you the full story behind it until a little later. I hope that this is ok, Nero."

He gulped and nodded, pulling the chair forward and sitting down in it. He sat across from her and she crossed her legs, just staring at him for a second with the look of happiness displaying itself on her.

_She could not believe that she was actually there with her son._

"You gonna stare all day?" Nero commented and she blinked, realizing that she happened to drift off for a few seconds.

"I apologize, I just can't believe I get to see you again. You're so breathtaking, Nero." She answered and his eyes grew wide at the comment, a blush raising up on his cheeks that she couldn't see him in his human form but was still seeing him in demonic form. He scratched his nose at the comment and glanced away from her, as if he was trying to hide his embarrassment.

"…Thanks." He mumbled and she brushed back some hair while she straightened herself up, "So, the reason for my name?"

"Right, the reason behind your name." She spoke in a softer tone, "You have noticed the painting in the main hall. He was the previous Master of the household and my older brother."

Nero blinked at this and opened his mouth to say something but noticed the tense gaze that Vergil have him to let his mother continue her words. She knit together her fingers and released a breath.

"He was…killed before you were born. He couldn't think straight and that led him down an unredeemable road. I grieved his loss dearly and I wanted to keep his remembrance close to me. Even though he did…unforgivable things, I wanted to cleanse his name so to say with you. You are your own person and you do not carry the sins that burdened him so I thought perhaps you could cleanse the name of the history behind it." She explained and Nero remained still, wanting to know more about the uncle who name he gained from but from her sorrow filled expression and darkened eyes, he knew it was for another time to ask. Her emotions remained still at the reminder of her brother but she did not let any tears flow down her face.

"…Jeez, that's deep." Nero muttered and scratched the back of his neck, "I'm…sorry about him being dead. It seems like you cared about him a lot."

She struggled to place a smile on her face and she nodded, closing her eyes for a second.

"I did." She whispered then opened her eyes again, the gray in the them twirled around, "I hope that this has provided you some answers for your name. Was there anything else you would like to know?"

Nero stayed still before she looked over to Vergil, seeing him stay silent and leaned back a little.

"What about you, Vergil? Do you have any questions for me?" She asked him and he glanced down to her appearance. Her smile was innocent and her eyes glistened while looking up at him while his eyebrows knit together.

"Did you leave Nero at the orphanage for a reason?" He asked and Nero choked on his own spit at the comment that came from his father. She then pointed to the book and licked her lips.

"I had a feeling that I might not make it after giving birth. I knew that Micah would have no ability to provide and raise him. I planned that once I would pass, he would be given to the orphanage so he could be able to grow up without a worry. I had hoped that Demons would not notice his Demonic blood…but I see that it didn't matter." She replied and Nero nodded, small relief filling in him at the comment that she did not plan on giving him away without any cause. She turned her attention back to Nero and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I did everything I could to try and protect you as much as I could, Nero. I wanted you to be safe but being the descendent of Sparda does have its coincidences that I can not control." She said and inched closer to him, staring at the long white hair that fell over his shoulders. He nodded at this and sighed, getting up with the book in hand.

"Well, now what?" Nero asked and she tapped her fingers against the table, thinking for a second, "You've been in a coma for over twenty years. Was there anything you wanted to do?"

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head, a small headache pounding against her skull was starting to form after mentioning her brother.

"What I would like right now is something to drink." She mumbled and rubbed the bridge between her eyes, catching Vergil's attention at the comment.

"I could get you something." Nero said and she waved her hand at this.

"No, Micah, will prepare something for me." She responded and at the mere mention of their name, the servant opened the door that connected to the many rooms of the manor.

"Of course, Mistress." They answered and crossed their arms behind their back, "What would you like to have?"

"Could I get a some water with slices of lime in it?" She requested and the servant nodded, ready to leave until Elena asked something else, "Do you two want anything?"

Nero blinked at her question and shook his head no while looking over to Vergil who stared at the servant, still trying to understand what exactly they were.

"I will have the same." Vergil announced and the servant nodded before returning back to the room they had entered from. Elena raised an eyebrow at the comment and gave a small smile up to him.

"I thought you disliked lime?" She questioned and he remained silent for a moment.

"I am fine with having it." He told her and she gave off a small chuckle, before leaning back in her chair.

"Micah, change one of the orders to have blueberries instead!" She called out and Vergil's stoic expression eased a little with getting something he liked, "Are you sure, Nero? It does not take long for Micah to make something."

"Uh, do you have soda or something?" He asked and instead of his mother replying, the servant did.

"We only have water with additional elements, cider, and some alcohol, Young Master. Would you like to know of the liquor we have?" The servant replied and the young Devil Hunter blinked at the last request.

"Uh, I'll just have some plain water." He said and Elena smiled at this, a sparkle gaining in her eye. Her interest began to peak at a thought and he stared at her for a second before looking back down to the book on the table in order to ignore her gaze.

"Nero, would you mind telling about your girlfriend?"

The sudden question about Kyrie caught him off guard as a blush rose over his features, covering the back of his neck and some on his cheeks too. He scratched his nose at the comment and his gaze couldn't focus on her, looking down to the floor.

"Uh…I guess, yeah. I don't mind." He said in a slight jumble and she chuckled silently at his actions.

"For you to be this flustered, I guess you really care for her." She said in a softer tone and he scratched the back of his neck at the comment, still trying to avoid her gaze, "What's her name?"

"…Kyrie." He said and a smile crossed over his features as he started thinking at the woman who loved him no matter what, "And she's amazing. She's great at taking care of everyone. She makes the best food in the world like her twice baked mashed potatoes and five cheese lasagne. She knows exactly what to say for practically any situation."

His list seemed to continue forever but from the look on his face, Elena knew that he was happy.

_Truly happy._

"She does sound amazing. I'm glad that you are happy, Nero. I can't wait to meet her in person." She spoke and her son froze at this realization.

_Kyrie would be meeting both his parents for the first time._

"Here are your refreshments." The servant said as they arrived with a tray that the three different beverages. They placed it on the table and Elena nodded at this.

"Thank you very much, Micah." Elena spoke to help ease the tension that formed and reached over to grab the glass, taking a small sip of it.

"Of course, call for me if you need anything else." They said and she stopped after a second, thinking about something that had slipped her mind until a mere second ago.

"What did you do with that picture I had requested?" She asked and the servant remained silent before pointing to the book on the table.

"You had mentioned that it would be the last photo in the book. I placed it there since you could not yourself after falling asleep." They explained and Nero looked down at the book with regained interest about the mentioned photo while Vergil too glanced down at it in small curiosity.

"Thank you for doing that, Micah. You have my gratitude." Elena whispered and Nero grabbed the book, almost knocking over the drinks from the force. His eyes narrowed as he flipped past multiple pages, where some had pictures, notes, and drawings, until reaching the end of it. His eyes grew wide at the sight of it and gulped at the image that greeted him.

The edges of the photo were slightly frayed but otherwise fine. In the edge laid his mother with tired, bagged eyes and her hair messed around and her cheeks looked slightly hollowed out as if she had not eaten in some time. She laid in a bed in a simple black tank top which slightly budged at the stomach and sheets were scattered around her in a mess but largely stained a dark and bloody red, like a pool. A smile graced her features and it looked genuine while sweat glistened off her but she looked absolutely exhausted. And in her arms, wrapped up in a dark towel was a tiny hand reaching out to her. Some white hair peaked over the towel with splashes of red on it and a tiny face with closed eyes was swaddled in the towel while its mouth was slightly open.

_It was a picture taken right after she had given birth to him._

"Holy shit." Nero muttered and Elena laughed at the statement, something of both humor and amusement.

"You were worth all the pain that I suffered, Nero. I wouldn't trade every having you in the world." She told him and ice ran through his body at her bold statement, causing him to look deeply into her gray eyes that showed no lie at the words that spilled rom her tongue.

"Would you like to see the photo, Vergil?" Elena then asked the half-Demon who blinked and looked down to her, eyes narrowed as she stared up at him.

_Like she wanted him to see everything that he had done to her at this placement._

Nero held the book out to him and Vergil remained still, something was running through his veins that was unfamiliar to him about the situation. He reached over and grabbed the book, while placing the Yamato on the table to fully open the book. He simply turned to the last page, as he was only told to see the photo stare right back at him. His face remained emotionless as he looked at the woman who had brought their son into the world and how small he appeared at his birth.

"I am glad to have brought such a magnificent young man into the world. Thank you for granting me that opportunity, Vergil."

Her voice snapped him out of his gaze and stared at her with slight disbelief. She smiled up at him with a soft edge of happiness and gratitude surrounding her features and he couldn't move herself from his gaze, capturing his entire view.

_She had always been captivating._

Then in an instant, her attention was pulled elsewhere as she said something to Nero but he was pulled off in his own secluded memory.

_"You would be a great model to capture, Vergil." She stated as she sketched out some random person who say across the other side of the restaurant, paying careful attention to the detail of the shape of their eyes. She bite the side of her lip as the pencil glided down the page and he gazed at her for a second, just observing her expression of attention. He was studying a book from the Archives that they had fetched and placed a fake cover over it in case someone went looking at it but now he couldn't keep his eyes drawn away from her._

_She was attentive and captivating as her own focus was on something else._

_"I will not model again." He replied as he looked back down to the book, noting that it was not anything he was searching for._

_"I only wanted essential outlines for another piece I am working on. This would be a real portrait of yourself. Your features would make an amazing piece." She said as she tried to compliment him enough to make him agree to it but he scoffed at it, thinking back to portrait that had hung above the fireplace with all his family together in it._

**_It took nearly three weeks to complete it and he had no patience for doing that again._**

_She looked over to him and pouted while pointing her pencil at him, saying back, "When was the last time you were given an opportunity to be a part of something, Vergil? I'm offering you a chance and it's not just because of your own features."_

_He remained unmoved at her speech and she sighed, looking done to her sketchbook before closing it. She looked over her shoulder and stared at a girl that giggled at something one of the waiters had told her._

_"Fine, I'll keep the commentary on the quiet side today." She mumbled and closed her eyes for a second. He took a momentary glance at her before his attention returned to the book and he turned the page, seeing that again the book had not provided anything he wanted to know._

**_He was getting annoyed about how unpromising the books were becoming._**

_"Shit," The simple curse from her caused him to see her gray eyes wide and panic strike across her face, "You need to hide."_

_He sighed at this as she grabbed her sketchbook and pencil then the book he was reading, causing his eyes to narrow in annoyance._

_"Come on, you need to hide." She spoke and he rolled his eyes at this. She scowled at his tranquility and she instead stood up, now pulling his arm with her. He got out of his chair as he glared down at her, noting the terror on her features, and she opened the bathroom door, while glancing around to see that no one had noticed them._

_"Get in. You'll leave from the window." She told him and he made no move at her words, "Listen, jackass, you want more books right? If you do what I'm telling you, I'll fetch some more for you to read next time I find you. I'll hold onto this book and record anything you would find interesting. So, just do this one thing I'm asking you to do." _

_She had begged him and he sighed, before closing the door between the two and looked over to the window merely scoffed at it. He pulled the Yamato free from its sheath and cut through the space, walking into it without another thought and escaped to the streets of Fortuna near the residence that he was staying at._

**_She better fulfill_** **_her statement of granting him more books or he would find his own source of attaining them._**

"Vergil," The sudden statement of his name brought him back to the present and he simply looked to see that Elena gently pulled the book back from him, "Did the book remind you of something?"

He stayed silent for a second before replying back, "Perhaps."

"Sorry to interrupt…whatever that was," Nero began which caused both his his parents to look towards him, "But what's our plan now? I would like to give Kyrie a heads up if we plan on seeing her today so she'll be ready to us."

"I would love to see her today Nero but I don't think I will be able to make the journey today. Even though I'm mentality prepared, I'm still not used to walking around and talking so I would like to wait a day if that is alright with you." Elena spoke up and Nero gave a small nod at this, understanding her reasoning behind it.

"That's fine. Would tomorrow be ok with you or we can wait more if you want?" Nero spoke up and she smiled at his gratefulness that he was so considerate towards her even though they barely knew each other.

"By tomorrow I should be fine. I just do not want to push myself more than I need to. Thank you, Nero." She said back and he nodded, a small blush rose to his cheeks at the compliment.

"No problem." He muttered and she nodded at this before turning her attention to the book, "I'm going to call Kyrie to let her know that you're coming over."

"Of course. Do what you need to do." She told him and he glanced between the two, unsure about whether or not he should leave the two of them before sighing. He pulled out his cellphone and left the room to go into the hallway, leaving it to the two adults.

"I did complete some more paintings like Nero mentioned." She stated out of nowhere, glancing over at him, "I did some that featured you as the subject matter although I know you wished not be in my work."

He pierced his lips together at the statement and replied back, "What was your reason for that?"

"What other way would I be able to show what my son's father looked like? I had no picture of you. A painting was my best choice." She replied and stared at the door, thinking that their son would return in any moment. He remained quiet for a moment as he thought about her countless works he had seen back during his time when he first visited her studio.

"May I see them?" He requested and she smiled at this, eyes twinkling.

"When have I ever denied you that opportunity?" She snarked back and the door opened back up with Nero closing it behind him, "Is everything all set, Nero?"

He blinked and nodded while scratching his nose at the comment.

"Yup, Kyrie is going to grab some food to tomorrow morning so we'll be able to get there for lunch." He explained and she nodded at this before stood up, looking over to Vergil.

"That sounds great. Now, we'll be going to the holding room. Your father wants to see some of the work I completed before falling asleep. So you will be joining us, Nero?" She stated and he blinked at this, looking away for a mere second at the thought of seeing the paintings again nd the weird vision that occurred.

"I'll join since you plan on explaining some of them to me." He decided and she smiled at this as she took another sip of her drink before standing up.

"Wonderful. I can't wait to tell about them to you." She said and left the room, heading towards the holding room where the other two men followed her trail in both guilty and curiosity.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Hey, everyone! Thank for all the positive comments about this story! I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. This is the end of this story but I will be posting the prequel and sequel on here also. I have posted the first chapter to prequel on AO3 but it will be on here shortly. Anyways, thanks again! Have a great weekend!

* * *

"Can I see another's woe,

And not be in sorrow too?

Can I see another's grief,

And not seek for kind relief?"

-_On Another's Sorrow_, Songs of Innocence, William Blake

* * *

Elena glided across the hallway as they headed to the room which held all her work in and her heart was soaring at the mere thought of being able to see and possible finish some of her pieces that she did not have the chance to when falling asleep.

"…How many pieces did you work on after I left?" The question came from Vergil and Elena turned her head in his direction, a smile still plastered over her face at this. Her arms were behind her back and she nodded in eagerness.

"Many. Around twenty five pieces I completed but about seven that were incomplete." She said proudly and Nero looked at her, impressed with how many that was in what he assumed was a short period of time. Her expression turned sad though in an instance as she thought about some of the topics they brought up and her gaze was locked forward yet again.

_Especially the one she almost miscarried Nero with._

For a mere second, she paled and looked like she was about to be sick but she did her best cover it up.

"You ok?"

The sound of Nero brought her attention to him and returned a faint smile over her features, sorrow echoing across her face.

"Yes, I just remembered something unpleasant regarding a few of the pieces." She stated in a softer tone and Nero frowned at this, concern written over his face at how swift her mood changed.

"But, it's ok." She restarted and looked at him in happiness, "I managed to see you again even if it has been so long. I didn't think that the day I could tell you who I was, would ever happen. I'm thankful for every moment I get to be with you, Nero."

Nero's eyes widen at her words and he could feel his own happiness blossom at this, something that rarely happened unless it was something regarding Kyrie and the boys they watched over.

_It was so heartfelt._

**_She truly regretted leaving him alone for so long._**

"I am too." He spoke out and relief crossed over her features at this, tears looked ready to slide down her cheeks but she quick turned her head forward so he wouldn't see them. Then a few second later, Elena turned into a room that Nero had seen while his parents were outside and she stared at the room that she had not been in quite some time.

"Well, we're here." She spoke as she entered the room and noticed small spots of dust gathered round on the desk but otherwise the paintings remained fine. The smell of both oil paint and acrylic paint filled her nose and a sense of comfort took over her features as she glanced to see some of her pieces leaning against the walls. Vergil observed the room as his eyes scanned over the multiple pieces she had done and she walked over to the pile closest to the desk, looking at the first one that was showcased to them.

"Give me a moment to find some of the ones I did of you, Vergil. I believe Micah rearranged some of them when I fell asleep." She stated and Vergil simply looked around the room, noting the multiple utensils on a desk while some pieces of wood lined the wall as if a frame would be made from it. Nero turned his attention to a different pile, where he remembered a certain piece laying behind a few others, that caused the odd vision.

"Ah, here is one!" The voice of his mother caused his attention to shift to her and she raised up one piece which was incomplete. It was the one where his father was sitting in a chair reading a book, not looking at the viewer.

"This is one of the few incomplete ones. There should be another one or two lying around in here." She stated and Vergil stared at the piece, eyes in something of a slit at the appearance of the piece. He took it from her and observed it more, noting the incomplete figure of himself but he noted the small details she had started putting in like his mother's amulet and the book that he seemed to be reading was a collection poetry from William Blake.

"You have much note of exquisite detail, Elena." Vergil stated and Elena didn't turn back to Vergil to express her happiness at this as she continued to dig through the multiple pieces.

"Thank you. I always include something I think would be personal to my subjects in my pieces." She replied back as she stared at one piece that happened to be the downtown of Fortuna, with small puddles in the piece was shown on it as if it had rained recently.

_She had completed the piece quite some time ago, back when she has first step foot in the Adesso household._

She continued moving past other pieces but in the rest of the pile, she did not find another one featuring Vergil as the subject matter.

"Do you want any help with finding the pieces?" Nero asked and she smiled at this while moving over to the next section.

"That would be wonderful. Thank you, Nero." She replied and he nodded at this, moving past Vergil to go to the other side of the room, away from the piece that caused him the odd vision.

"No problem." He muttered and started to slowly move through the pieces, noting again the multiple pieces she had worked on. He scanned through them, trying to catch the notable white hair both himself and father had or the cold blue eyes that his father had glared at most people with.

"Some pieces might not look exactly like your father, Nero."

The statement caused him to raise his eyebrows at this in confusion as she had took another piece out from the stack, which was simply a still life but with a journal, the one that V had carried around everywhere and Nero having read through it once his father and uncle went to the Underworld, a photograph with the man who Nero was named after, a few paintbrushes with paint tubes, and a scroll unraveled and falling off the side of the table that the elements laid on.

"Some pieces may be connected through an object." She spoke out loud and the two stared at the piece, "This piece is an example of that since I merely included the journal he kept."

"…What exactly is that piece about?" Nero asked and she blinked at this before moving it closer to her body, eyes narrowing and looked to be going off to a distant time.

"A remembrance piece to all the things that have remained important to my life or important objects to the people who I have cared for in the past." She spoke and he stared at the strange scroll, trying to figure out what was written on it, "The scroll is in Hebrew if you were curious, Nero."

He blinked at the last comment before a small blush rose up to his neck at how apparently obvious he was at staring at the scroll in question.

"Why is it in Hebrew?" He questioned back and she started at him for a second before sighing as she placed the piece aside and moved to another pile.

"The Adesso household does not regard Sparda as their God or Savior. They were Semitic. I learned how to read, speak and write Hebrew. It became an essential part of my time here so it is important to me." She explained and Nero stared at her for a second, realizing that it did make sense as she held no real care about his grandfather being the legendary Savior. He noticed Vergil staring at the two pieces he seemed to be the focal point in but turned back to the pile. After a minute of silence between the family, Nero stopped at another piece which he had saw from his earlier visit and pulled it out, causing the two adults' attention on him. It was the one his father's face with the amulet pecking out from the edge.

"Here's another one." He said and Elena stood up, walking over to it and she held out her hands, wanting to hold it herself. He stared at her for a moment before handing it to her and she simply smiled at this, properly facing it to herself.

"Ah, I started working on this right after you left me." She said out loud and Vergil's eyes narrowed at this, "I felt compelled to paint the last person I had grown feelings for."

Nero sucked in a breath at that comment, realizing that perhaps going to look at the paintings would cause her such sadness.

"Nero, stop looking like you caused this memory to bubble to the surface." She stated as she pulled out another piece which happened to be one of the infamous katana his father wielded, the Yamato, "I am the one that got attached to someone I should have known they would leave me one day. You did not cause me that pain."

Her words caused Vergil to turn slightly stiff but he did not hold any pained look on his features and she then walked over to him, standing stand-by-stand with him. She raised it up to him and he simply stared at it, his eyes not focusing on himself but rather the amulet that he had lost.

"Pain though is part of the process of forgiveness so your father will have to deal with that for some more time." She hushed out and Vergil glanced at her expression, noting the sad smile across her face but her eyes did gleam a small amount of hope. She shock her head softly to clear out her thoughts and Vergil grabbed the piece from her as she moved the last and final pile of pieces that lined the walls. Nero remained still for a moment, observing the two to see if the two would perhaps argue since they only did so when she had first demanded her debts be repaid.

_Maybe he reacted differently with her than he did with others._

Nero's attention grew back to his pile, shuffling through the pieces while trying to catch anything that seemed remotely similar to what she was looking for. He continued to move through them, many of them just simply still lives or scenery of Fortuna, from the bustling streets to the woods and the castle itself. Then shiver a grew down his spine at the next painting he looked at, freezing him still as he recognized the infamous mansion were his reemerged from after V had sent his cane down into the Demon's chest. The mansion looked broken and ripped apart while a rose garden was on the side of it, flowers still blossoming despite the obvious destruction.

_Something foreboding prior to his arrival had happened there._

_Like fire and flames licking the walls and shadows crawled across the walls of the once powerful and impressive mansion. Demons snuck around the halls and blood stained the walls while someone lay on the floor, crimson pouring out of their body while Demons surrounded them and munch on parts that had ripped apart. Long blonde hair spilled forward and dark eyes wide in pure horror stared up with no light in them. The body haunted his vision as he had recognized who the person as he had seem them before._

**_It was Dante and Vergil's mother, Eva._**

Nero's breath was released once the realization came to him and Elena was next to him, staring at him intently with some concern flashing across her face.

"So you found the mansion painting." She muttered which caught Vergil's interest as he moved closer to the two, seeing it from over Elena's shoulder, "I did a lot of guessing when it came to the original structure since it was destroyed from the fire and attack. I was mainly going off of my own knowledge of how the architecture could look. This would piece would have been the one time I wish I had my father's ability."

Nero blinked at the mention of her own father with confusion and questioned, "Your father's ability? Did he have something similar to what you can do?"

She gave something of an unpleasant smile at the comment and scratched the back of her head at this.

"In the Adesso family, since as long as they have been recorded in history and been told from my predecessors, we have the ability to see the past, present or future. It would be gifted once another family member passed then the following descendant would gain their ability. My father was able to see into the past so you would gain that since he passed before my brother's death." She explained and his grip tightened lightly on the painting, trying to ignore the sense of dread from her answer.

"What did your brother see?" He asked and the smile on her lips dropped, sorrow poured over her features at the mention of her brother.

"He could see the future, which led to his own demise." She hushed out and closed her eyes for a second, "The future is unpredictable so being able to see that messes with the mind's psyche. Although knowledgable, my own ability is dangerous too. Few times I have not been able to tell the difference if I was viewing something from my own perspective or from somewhere else. This ability…I am glad that you did not inherit that from me. The burden of this ability weighs heavy on my shoulders and I want it to end with me. I am glad that you do not have to worry about this."

"You were able to watch grow up Nero from a distance because of your ability, Elena." Vergil stated, breaking his silence, and the two turned their attention towards him. Her sorrow filled expression disappeared at the mention of Nero and her heart did ease at his comment, realizing if she did not have that ability she would have never gotten to Nero grow up, even if he was by himself.

_It did grant her that glimmer of happiness._

_Plus, that is how she had met Vergil too._

"That is true…Thank for reminding of that, Vergil." She spoke and he gave a small nod to that while she moved closer to him and held the piece towards him, "Would you like to keep this piece for yourself?"

Vergil froze at those words, as the place that haunted him for long stared at him for the delicate strokes of paint.

_So much had happened in that house._

"You do not need to take it now, Vergil. The offer to have it will be on the table if you choose to." She said as she placed the piece aside and Vergil's posture returned from its rigid state to one that was more calm. Nero's eye glanced back over to the pile and knew that the last painting was sitting there, waiting to be seen. Elena sighed and her eyes looked distant before she glided back to the pile, the family silent as she dug out the last and final piece she created about Vergil. She too looked reluctant about finding the piece and she gripped the canvas's edge once seeing the dark paint on the edge of the frame. She sealed her eyes for a mere second and she remembered the pain flooding her body when she had just started the painting.

_She laid on the ground, eyes wide and tears streaming down her face in cascades, like a never-ending waterfall. Her breath was uneven and her mouth was ready to scream but her voice was caught in the back of her throat. Her stomach budged slightly, around five months pregnant, by her simple black laced dress but it was slowly being stained red as she clutched her stomach. Yet the tears were not coming from the pain she was experiencing herself but it was from the vision she was seeing._

She opened her eyes back up and pulled the painting out of the pile, and in an instance, Vergil's calm manner disappeared at once looking at the piece. His eyes were wide in surprise and some form of terror might have been hinted in them but Nero could not really tell as his father looked far more mentally pained at the subject matter of the painting.

"I had accepted your desire to stay in the Underworld but I was still curious about how you were doing." She said in a soft tone, as if she were both explaining her motive and trying not to scare him, and she gripped the frame tight in her hands. She closed her eyes and the memory was still burned into her skull, not removing itself any time soon.

_She saw the Demon tear him away, piece by piece in slow agony. She could not hear his tortured screams but she could imagine them as she saw his body and soul pulled apart like a puzzle pieces being forcibly put together. The Demon ripped him apart and he was slowly being replaced and being forced to become someone-no, something-else entirely. _

"How about we look at this one another day?"

Nero's suggestion snapped her out of the memory as he gently pulled it away from her and looked down at her with a sad expression, eyes narrowed and lips pierced together. She gave a small nod of approval as he placed back in its original spot and Vergil's manner calmed down, returning to his normal state.

"Yes, that is a good idea…I thought I could handle looking at the piece again but I was wrong. Too many terrifying moments are held in it." She muttered and Nero glanced over to Vergil, trying to see if he planned on doing something to help her but he remained still. His eyes were distant but his stance strong and Nero blinked at this.

_The thorns digging into his skin as he struggled move even an inch. His beloved sword hanging limply in his hand, broken and shattered in pieces, and could provide no way of attacking his enemy or defending himself. Blood spilled out of his multiple wounds and his hair fell down in front of his face, intimating his younger brother at the action but his cobalt blue eyes glared up at the monstrosity of the Demon that had brought him to this state. He would not show any fear as he looked at it, keeping his gaze locked and ready to mock the Demon if it tries anything else._

**_Yet he had nothing against the Demon besides his own wit._**

"Old man?" The voice of Nero reminded Vergil that he did not need to linger on that subject anymore and he turned his attention to him, eyes narrowed and looked annoying that he had disturbed him.

"What is it, Nero?" Vergil asked and he crossed his arms over his chest, staring at him but he knew he would not get any answers from him. He sighed as his gaze turned towards his mother who continued to stare at the pile where the painting returned to with disdain in her eyes.

"So, what's the plan now?" Nero questioned and Elena blinked at this, turning to him as she realized that they had completed the one task Vergil wanted.

"Well, I need to pack a few things for going to visit your girlfriend and then to go see Dante also." She mentioned and Vergil's eyes looked displeased at the mere mention of his twin brother's name.

"You still plan on seeing Dante?" Vergil inquired and she raised an eyebrow at this, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" She said back and tension that was gone moments ago returned back with large presence. Vergil remained quiet on that note and she rolled her eyes at this, clearly annoyed at the man who did not give reasoning behind his answer. Her attention was directed back to Nero and she moved closer to her son.

"Nero, is there anything else you wanted to know?" Elena wondered and Nero blanked at that question but many thoughts swirled around his head as he tried to think of some.

"When you think of some more, I will respond to them with the best I can." She spoke again and she walked past the two, arms in front of her body and her hands grasped together in a tight grip, "If either of you wish, you can join me in packing otherwise you may go explore more of the mansion."

Then without another say, she headed towards her room and her eyes had a fire in them, from Vergil's reaction to the painting and remaining silent on the matter of his brother. Nero whipped his head in the direction of his father and stomped over to him, clearly unhappy with the issue between the two adults.

"If you want to act like a jackass then just leave her alone and not say anything." He hissed at him and Vergil merely glared at his son.

_He did not know the extent of their relationship so he had no _**_right _**_to say anything. '_

Nero scoffed and looked over to the door, rubbed his face at this and Vergil could see the resemblance between himself and his son strongly at the action.

"Whatever, I'm going to go find her and help her pack. You can do whatever you want. I'm going to make an effort to know and form some connection with her." He spoke out and Nero left the room, leaving Vergil to the face the paintings of his past by himself.

* * *

Elena gripped a shirt tight in her grasp as she thought at Vergil's disdain of going to see Dante and she scowled as she shoved it into a suitcase. Her eyebrows knit together at the way Vergil approached the subject matter of his own paintings and trust in others.

_His trust in others was limited and even now, his trust in her was feeble and something like creating the paintings without his consent could throw his trust in disarray._

**_She should have known that he would be unhappy with her._**

She felt sorrow build up at this misfortunate but if she did not keep herself busy, she would have done something drastic years ago.

"Are you alright?"

The voice fo Nero removed the distraction of her thoughts and she looked up to her son who leaned against the doorframe, a frown on his lips and his eyebrows narrowed in displeasure with his arms crossed over each other. She gave a small smile at how he looked like his father and he raised an eyebrow at this, a smile making its way back on his lips.

"Is something funny?" He questioned and she shock her head no.

"No, you look just like your father." She said and his smile disappeared at this, his arms dropping to his side.

"He's an asshole. Sorry about what happened in there." He said and she laughed at this, causing him to look at her funny.

"I should have known he would act that way, Nero. You don't need to apologize for his actions." She said and he blinked at this, realizing that she perhaps knew him better than himself, "You can come in and sit on the bed if you like. I'm just trying to get everything together now."

He gave a small nod as he walked in and looked around the room. A mirror was hung up on the wall adjacent to the bed and a book shelf was across the way, which he noted contained classic books like The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, The Odyssey, and many others but some larger books that mentioned some art movements too. Going further into the room, a closet was open and showed plenty of different outfits, many which were black.

"Was this the room I was-?" He began and she waved her hand no at his words.

"You were born in a separate part of the estate." She replied as he sat down at the edge of the bed, "Was there any other questions you wanted to know, Nero?"

He looked up to her and began, in a slightly unsteady voice, "Well…were you and Vergil a one night stand and accidentally ended up having me?"

She nearly tripped at his questions d her eyes grew wide at this before anger quickly replaced them, her expression clearly unhappy.

"No, I wouldn't lower myself to that." She hissed and Nero's eyes grew wide at her tone, shocked at that she even raised her voice against him when she only did that against his father. She realized her tone before rubbed the bridge between her brows as she walked over to the closet to find more clothes.

"Your father and I…had a relationship prior to anything physical. It had been one of mutual benefiting from one another." She responded and he nodded at this, glad to have gained some context behind his parent's relationship with each other. She grabbed some more clothes, this time some bootleg pants and long flowing shirts also, and he simply observed her.

"You have another question, do you not?" She suggested to him as she brought over the clothes and he glanced down to the floorboard, uncertainty racking his thoughts about the question he had on the tip of his tongue. He looked back up to her and his gaze locked with her's, she looked at ease after clearing up her past relationship with his father.

"Did you love him?"

She looked at him with her eyes wide as her gaze then dropped over to the wall, avoiding his. A sad smile pierced her lips as her eyes twinkled at the thought of a memory curling around in her head.

_"I love you." She whispered as he hovered above her, blue eyes staring down as his white hair had some pieces fallen over his eyes. His mouth was open, perhaps in shock, and his hands still gripped her wrists tight. His bare chest, toned with many muscles, was frozen in mid breath but she still was heaving for her own. She stared at him in silence, as she was not sure what his reaction would be, and he slowly released his grip on her wrists, his figure now longer looming over her. She observed his torn expression, unsure on what he should say or what he thought about her ushering those words._

She snapped out of her memory and walked over to Nero, standing in front him. He looked up to her and she sat down next to him, the bed creaking in some protest.

"I did." She replied to his question and the wind sucked right out of him, like a sucker punch. He bit the inside of his lip at this and then another question popped into his head.

"Do you still do after everything he has done?"

She reframed from answering him for a second before sighing.

"I have seen what your father done, Nero. I know of the deeds and sins he has committed but I still love the man who captured my heart those many years ago even if he has been hiding and done terrible things. He will have to earn forgiveness, from myself and others, before I can love him again." She stated and for a second, her vision changed to be in the hallway, Vergil at the footstep of the door but remained still and intent on listening to her talk. She blinked and her focus shifted back to Nero who remained fixated on her, trying to look at every detail she provided for him.

"Nero," She began and he stayed still, "Could I hug you?"

He blinked in confusion for a second before scratching his nose, small amounts of color flushing on his cheeks.

"Why?" He wondered and she looked towards the doorway again, hoping Vergil would enter to say something.

"For my own selfish desire to be able to hold my son even if the last time I did was when you fit in my arms." She replied and gave him a smile, "And I'm sure you have once in yoru life wanted to be hugged by your mother."

_He could not deny that she was wrong._

**_Especially when he was a child, hoping that he could meet his mom._**

She stood up and he stared up at her until he stood up too, towering over her smaller stature. She then opened her arms up and he decided to move closer to her, his own arms reacting as her arms wrapped around his body and leaned into his touch.

**_He had been waiting for this every day since he was a little boy._**

He closed his eyes for a second and inhaled her scent, the smell of acrylic paint and something like old cotton sheets, staining his noise to know what his mother's scent is. He felt relief wash over him as she continued to hold him tight, wanting to keep his memory forever etched in to both of their minds. Tears made way their way up to her eyes as she hugged him tighter and emotions overwhelmed her.

"I'm sorry that I left you alone." She muttered as her tears stained his clothes and he remained silent, appreciating the moment between them.

"I wasn't alone all the time." He reassured her and she bit her lip as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks, "I gained important people in my life. You're one of them now."

Her heart soared at this and slowly pulled away from him, looking up at his expression of ease. They released each other and she raised a hand up to his cheek, caressing it and he instinctively leaned into her touch.

"I'm so thankful to be here with you, Nero." She told him and happiness wove its way into his heart from her words.

"I'm glad I got to meet you…Mom." He said and she smiled at this, eyes twinkling in joy at being calling 'mom'. She removed her hand from his face and then wiped away her tears, took a deep breath to calm herself before looking back to her clothes, knowing she needed to finish it and enjoy the moment more for herself.

"I'm going to finish packing, Nero. You can still stay." She commented and he shrugged.

"I think I'm going to go chill in your dining room and wait there. I've got see when the best time it is for Nico to pick us up anyways." He said and she gave him a confused look before remembering the girl in the van she saw when explaining her ability and connected the dots that she was who he was talking about.

"Alright. I'll be down when I'm done. Again, call for Micah if you want anything and they'll get it to you." She explained as he nodded and headed out the door, once glancing to side to see his father patiently waiting by it with his arms crossed. He didn't say anything before passing him by and headed to the dining room. Vergil waited til Nero disappeared from his sight to enter the room and he stared at Elena whose expression was still and her hands held together.

"I hope you understand that I want to meet yoru brother because Nero does care for him too. I also want to met him for me to understand what are your own thoughts on him." She explained to him as he simply glanced at the clothes in her bag and his gaze moved back to her after her explanation.

"You do not owe me an explanation." He told her and she smirked at her, similar to her son's.

"I wanted to, Vergil." She said back and she released a harsh breath as he approached her more closely, mere inches away from each other. Her expression turned to melancholy and she simply stared at him, still her eyes only seeing him in his demonic form.

"…You're no illusion, are you?" She muttered, still questioning whether or not she happened to be dreaming, an angel before her in the form of a Demon, "May I touch you, Vergil?"

He gave a simple blink of confusion before narrowing his eyes, a small sigh escaping his lips.

"You may." He said and her hands reached forward, moving slowly to touch his face. Her hands gently cupped his face and he could not help but release a breath fo ease at her touch, even if he denied it, her touch had always been comforting. Her fingers were soft but calluses were still on her hand from being an artist since she was five years old and his eyes closed as he relaxed into her touch. A twinkle appeared in her eyes at this as she could tell he too was more soothed with her around.

_Even though in the beginning the two disliked each other, they were able to find ease within each other's presence._

"Vergil," Elena said and he reopened her eyes, seeing her stare up at him, "Thank you."

The weight in his heart eased at her gratitude, whatever it may be from, and he simply nodded at this before moving his own hands to her own. He grasped them lightly in his own and pulled her hands away, looking away in silence.

"You should not thank me." He told her as his own thoughts whirled around in disorder and she frowned at this but did not say anything back in return. They remained motionless for a few more moments until he dropped his grip on her, allowing her hands to fall to her side.

"Perhaps, I should not but I am thankful that you brought Nero to me, even if he did ask you to find me." She replied and her attention returned to her bag, "I have missed you."

It felt like the air in his lungs stopped at her comment and he wanted to say something back but something twisted his gut and just stayed quiet. She gave a rejected smile at this, already accepting his known status of what he felt about her.

"You don't need to say anything back. I just wanted you to know that someone besides your brother has missed you all this time." She assured him and he could feel the small tug of his lip curving at this, small amounts of happiness working its way into him at this comment.

_He was missed, even if it was by two people._

**This is what he had craved in the beginning.**

She gestured to her bed and said, "You can remain here or wait with Nero, Vergil, as long as you do not cause any problems."

He looked to the bed for a second but he stepped back from her and she gave a small nod of acceptance of this. He turned himself away from him and right before he left the door, she spoke back up, "You know, I had a dream that you were an angel in the form of a Devil. It would happen only a few times but it seemed to never leave my mind when I did dream of it. Others may only see you because of your exterior but I think I began to touch some of your interior before you left…I hope that it wasn't just a dream I had."

He understand her meaning as clear as day and she knew that he did to when he gave a kurt nod, leaving her to her packing and own thoughts, She watched him as he followed to Nero's direction before turning to her clothes again, everything coming together in a few hours.

_Her own fate was back for her to control and she would not let someone tell her otherwise._

**_She would be there for her son and help Vergil establish a relationship with his son and ground him to the human world, for both his own good being and her own selfish desire of seeing him again after gaining a relationship that she never thought she would have with him._**

* * *

"I am all packed for tomorrow." Elena stated as she entered the dining room and both men looked up to her appearance. She looked relaxed and happy upon seeing the two of them together, not arguing, and she noticed they sat across from each other but were not turned to each other.

"Would the both of you be ok with sleeping here for the night so we can leave in the morning all together?" Elena asked and Nero blinked at this before glancing at his father who remained stoic until he shrugged.

"I'm fine as long as you got a couch." He told her and she gave a small chuckle at this.

"There are guest rooms you can use for tonight. They are in the same wing as my own." She responded and he nodded at this, glad to have at least a bed to sleep in.

"What about the old man?" Nero questioned and she looked over to him, clean Vergil looked annoyed at him being called old before his gaze went up to Elena.

"Vergil is going to stay in my room." She said and Nero's eyes grew like the size of saucers while Vergil's did in some extent too.

"WHAT?" Nero said and she sighed at his remark.

"Nero, do not worry. When I wake up, I want to make sure that he will be near my side unlike the last time we were together." She explained and his expression dulled down at her reasoning, knowing even if he complained she would probably ignore his statement. He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, nodding in content and acceptor of her request.

"If that is what you want." He said and Nero scoffed at this, knowing he would not win the argument. Elena was relieved at his decision and she reached over to Nero's right hand, which caused his gaze to stare at how she simply stared at the limb.

"Don't worry Nero." She said and looked up to him before giving him a bright smile, "If Vergil tries something, Micah would come to aid me in an instance. Plus I know of other ways to stop him."

The last remark caused Nero to blink at this while a scowl appeared on Vergil's face, haven forgotten that the moments shared between the two allowed some secrets to spill. Nero sighed at this and rubbed the bridge between his brows.

"Fine." He mumbled and she released his hand, turning to Vergil.

"Micah, has a mattress with sheets available already for you, so whenever the two are you ready to head to bed, we may go up." Elena said and Vergil remained still for a moment before deciding to move to the staircase again to head to bed from both the exciting and stressful day for al of them.

* * *

As Elena undid her hair, letting the ribbon that held it together be placed on the cabinet, she glanced back at Vergil who sat at the foot of the mattress she had Micah prepare for him. He did not change out of his clothes, seemingly reluctant to get out of them, and she remained still at the mirror, staring at her reflection in disbelief and relief of everything that had happened today.

"Thank you for staying with me tonight, Vergil." She said and he looked up to her before nodding, observing her moments. She walked over to her bed and sat down at the edge of it, staring at him.

"…good night, Vergil. See you in the morning." She spoke and he stayed still before giving a small nod in agreement as she laid down on the bed, noticing that Vergil's back faced her. Her eyes were fluttering to go to sleep, hoping and praying that everything would be left off from where it was tomorrow.

"Good night, Elena."

She let a smile slip on her lips from his whisper and hope slipped into her heart, perhaps his forgiveness would come sooner rather later, as her eyes sealed shut to fall into a peaceful slumber.


End file.
